Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-04-02
- CALIFORNIA JOURNALISM.


Pacific Coast Editing.
| Special Correspondence
| NFw York. March 2-.-Onc serious feat
ure of California country editing twenty wears
| ago was the occasional necessity Of returning
| with thanks the manuscript of some embryo
statesman. who had told in prose to an eN-
| tent sufficient 10 cover whole side of the
| paper. just where the country was and where
/ II was guIuE unless his panacea was admins
! t"r,Nt IN time 10 save 1t from destruction.
! We dared not u>@ waste baskets in those days.
| They would have proved fatal The Hon.
| Bardwell SIotc, of the mining regions, who
hal spent days in his log cabin preparing his
| paper, deenI"d that paper part Of himself,
AMI 10 treat 1t as waste PAPER was TO treat
| HIM n waste paper. There a similar
danger from the occasional lady who like the
resi- Of IL. thought she could write, and who
certainly Could write great many words.
Its very easy IN these crowded cities, where
tile editor can 50 easily fence himself out and
place 81 many bars and officials betwixt him
self and the contributor dying to contribute,
10 apply the waste basket Bat in YOUR
smaller villages where everybody knows
every body else and everybody Is subscriber
or advertiser, dc"miuS also that their sub
scriP;on or nd" is the mainStay of your
paper and the editors Office Is a place 10
which every subscriber or advertiser can re-
pair without hindrance-why, there the
waste basket must be used with the utmost
caution and discretion.
The SapinG city papers waste basket, tine
grave of ~ much thought and sentiment
written with SO much pride. sent with SO much
enthusiasm, waited for in vain with so much
anxiety, Is As yet an unwritten but worthy
theme for tine poet or poetess.
In my experiences in this line of life too
have more than once been struck bv the lady
who has herself been struck and ovCrw helmed
by All avalanche of pcetry. And know not
but in the hurry and furry of editorial
turbulence, political or otherwise, | have
been the means of keeping some fine postical
sentiment from ever seeing the light, and in
50 doing have crushed the aspiration and
career Of moro than one gifted poet.>s II
50, | must suffer for it, because. through the
unerring and inevitable law of nature not
one jot or little Of which shall fail, all sin
must at last be visited on the sinner
Another terror lay in the visit to the office
of the hOwhug miner from some far off camp
or GulCh on his semi-aunual spree. Such
man, living a he did a life of selni-Sav8gery,
was both callous and reckless even Of the
feebier proprieties and concentionalities OF
the larger and rather more civilized camp
Come to the editors Office he would,
,luCsy that he didn't try TO T,ie in on horse
back and insist on taking out all hands and
treating at the nearest Tar. There was dan
ger III refusing and danger in accepting. IL
If was refusal he might want 10 fight. IL it
was acceptance, lie might keep on treating
till the printers We're III II condition not to
distinguish T. from Q's, and printers are
almost liable To give way under pressure
Of temptation H. other people. | have great
inspect Tor printers.
They never drink hshind the bar"-prinCi-
pallv h."ausc they never sucrtei in getting
behind it. There is certain class Of people /
who believe that every writer must bc /
printer Yet there have been good writers /
who Were not printers. Yet again there are |
good printers who are neither good or bad !
writers There Is more glory in being good !
printer than in hcing a poor writer. Many .
nG the lest printers | knew III California were /
good gamblers. When | say "gorl gamb-
ler,' | mean "A gambler skilled in HI, calling.
\ man may be good burglar without being
a moral burglar.
The mpIc peaceful side of the up country
California newspaper oflice was its open
doors and open windows from March ill /
November: its out of door senate, gathered
i'll the early evening i'll tipped nack chairs by
the front door, composed Of the party leaders
and party lights, discussing with the editor
the situation; its incoming, of miner from
outlying flats and gulches bringing in spcCi-
mems of quartz silver or copper for the
editors notice. which specimens 10 brought
from time To time are collected III wiuruw,
on the window slls and pills ON the floor. II
the editor could not hlmse!i 'pfcrpcct, he had
his warm friends who could, ami who on stak
ing out Il new claim did not forget 10 put his
name on the list OF shareholders, ami some
times did not forget 10 20 after him for the
monthly assessments, becausr 80 many pros
pcctlycly IiCh California mines Welded mainly
out Of the packets of the shareholders, and it
makes much difference, especially TO sn
editors ft-lnrs whether the bullion devsl
UpCd hy the nine comes out Of his safe or the
rock for which the as>aycr promised 500 Ter
100 cents PRENTICE MILFORD.